A married couple who were both NHS managers received redundancy money of almost £1 million before being taken back on by the health service a few months later.

They are among dozens of senior staff given payoffs of more than £100,000 after 161 NHS bodies were abolished under health reforms this year, according to accounts published yesterday. Many found new jobs in the NHS.

Critics claim that the Government should have capped such “golden goodbyes” for senior staff and clawed back money from those who were reemployed through a health service “revolving door”. Political parties traded blows over the revelations